my wife and i had a great discussion over this bible text last week (i know, i know…. nerdy pastor-couple having a bible discussion… but it really is wonderful to have scripture come alive with the one i love)…. it started as i was preparing for our upcoming youth retreat. our theme was “the upside-down kingdom” – that is, following jesus offers us more than just a “get out of jail free” card; it will change the way we see the world, often turning things upside-down from the conventional wisdom with which we’ve been raised…

as i was exegeting the theme text (“whoever wants to become great must become a servant”) and setting it in its context, i got kind of stuck on the parable of the workers in the vineyard, in the beginning of matthew 20. i found myself basically siding with the workers who arrived early in the morning to do the hard work. yeah, why should they get paid the same as those lazy eleventh hour “workers”? those guys probably planned to show up at the last minute anyways…

the basic take i’ve heard on this text goes something like this: don’t act like this is unfair because you’re all eleventh hour workers! consider yourselves lucky even to be here, sinners! (this usually came before the “repent, you calloused-hearted-sinners” prayer time; some of these pastors probably need to work on anger issues)…

while there might be some truth to this approach (i.e., we cannot earn our salvation), it seems to miss the main point – the thing that is actually scandalous here. namely, that the owner of the vineyard is outrageously generous. there is no enron-type scandal, no looting of employee pensions, no grossly disproportionate ceo wages… no, the scandal is one of grace. the owner is gracious, and it’s driving people nuts.

so when jesus hits us with the punchline, “the last will be first, and the first will be last,” He is, of course, dealing with more than just the literal order in which the workers are paid. the main point of the parable seems to be the generosity of the owner, not the hard work of his employees. perhaps this is to remind us that God is the main point of His kingdom, and our hard work flows from Him. i don’t want to read too far into this parable, but i am reminded that it is a privilege to be even a small part of what God is doing in His kingdom (so much better to work for Him than anyone else) and that, perhaps, serving Him today is reward enough (although what He has promised in the future is not too shabby either)…

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thankfully, during the quiz show portion of our retreat, all of our students were able to recognize that the phrase, “you must learn to master your rage… or your rage will master you!” was not an upside-down saying of jesus. nope, that one is from the sphinx!

…or wall of voodoo?
and its partner in crime (note the “special flavor”):

i recently joined a discussion group who will be journeying together through dallas willard’s latest work, the great omission. the official discussion won’t start until next week, so there’s still time to join if you are interested.

i’m definitely excited about this discussion group. i’m also a little bit worried because i’ve started reading the first couple of chapters, and this is one of those kinds of books. some might say it could “ruin” them. i find myself already uncomfortable with willard’s insightful, and incisive, commentary on the state of christianity today. not because i disagree but, rather, because i see myself in so much of his critique.

a quick excerpt:

But the cost of nondiscipleship is far greater – even when this life alone is considered – than the price paid to walk with Jesus, constantly learning from him. Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s over-riding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, nondiscipleship costs you exactly the abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10).

i sometimes find myself almost apologizing for how difficult it can be to follow Jesus. however, i’m starting to recover that right perspective – it actually costs much more not to follow Him. more than just answering with a churchy, flippant “Jesus” to the important questions (how can i live with depth, clarity, passion and purpose? how can i be changed from a jerk into a more godly person? who made flying squirrels?), i want to follow Him.

it sounds like good news – the house recently passed a bill to increase minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. this would be the first increase in minimum wage since 1997. cost of living has certainly increased in the last ten years, so such a move is long overdue…

however, republicans attached to this bill an inheritance tax cut – which only affects the superrich (the wealthiest 0.5 percent of the nation). sojourners breaks down the stats this way:

• 14.9 million workers earn minimum wage
• this would increase their annual wage by $1,200
• the estate tax cuts would benefit 8.200 people
• their average benefit would be $1.4 million

i suppose i shouldn’t be surprised that such a thing would happen. however, it feels a lot like helping people with one hand while pushing them down with the other.

i hear people say things like, “well, if you were that wealthy, wouldn’t you want to pass along that wealth to your kids?” of course i would want to provide for my kids as much as possible – but if had that much money, would my kids really need that extra $1.4 million? would having another yacht make their life that much better? i know, i know – they’ve just got to have that bugatti…

perhaps a better question might be who doesn’t want to be a superhero? stan lee (comic book creator of notable characters such as the fantastic four, incredible hulk, x-men and spiderman) is hosting a reality show for would-be superheroes called “who wants to be a superhero?“, complete with a secret super-lair and personal communicators (i.e., old blackberry devices). it’s basically as nerdy as it sounds (which suits me just fine!)… like most reality shows, there can only be one winner – after each episode, one contestant is eliminated.

the last challenge i saw had stan lee telling the superbunch that they would have to change from their normal clothes into their supergetup and race to a designated finish-line as quickly as possible. although they were supposed to find an inconspicuous place to change, one person changed in a garbage can (i know) and one guy changed in a grassy patch in plain public view.

anyhoo, stan had set up a little girl near the finish line who “lost” her mom, and was crying out for help. this, of course, was the real test. sort of a variation on the old “good samaritan” test which, depending on the version, has a group of seminarians being tested on or delivering a sermon on luke 10:25-37. when they arrive for their test, they are told it has been moved to another location – and to hurry up and get there already. on the way, the majority of them ignore a person who is obviously in need of help… thus failing to live out what they are in such a hurry to teach/preach…

true to form, most of the superheroes completely passed up the little girl – in one case, looking directly at her and then deciding to run to the finish line anyways… when stan lee called them out on this, most of them apologized – saying that they were so focused on winning that they didn’t notice anything around them. in fact, stan lee had told the group that they wouldn’t be tested on super-powers (which, despite their possible delusions, do not exist) but that they would be tested on what makes a superhero on the inside – honesty, integrity, compassion…

kind of reminds me of an old this american life segment i heard, where the narrator surveys people on whether they wished they had the ability to fly or become invisible. people thought very deeply about this issue – because it was not only the cool ability that they would have, but what it said about their character as well… flight being a noble superpower (picture superman swooping in to save the innocent bystanders) and invisibility being a not-so-noble superpower (picture… well, you get the picture)…